16 October 2011

Our Jubilate Deo choir

(which was our quartet but now with some extra voices) is preparing to assist with the liturgy on Reformation Sunday - Divine Service 5. I got to listen to their practice a little bit last Sunday and I am mega excited to hear the final result on Reformation itself.

They'll be singing:

a stanza of "A Mighty Fortress,"
assisting with the Introit (chanting it in four part harmony);
doing all of the Kyrie, God Father (I heard Carlo work with them on this piece and it has potential to be absolutely amazing);
singing the introductory acclamations and a stanza of the Gloria (All Glory be to God on High) in the Festive Gloria setting.
singing alternate stanzas on the long Hymn of the Day (which we'll actually finish during the Distribution).

I hope that it records well and we can get some samples posted to the internet. The rugged and yet majestic Divine Service, Setting Five is one of the true gems of the Lutheran Service Book. With its roots solidly in Luther's Deutsche Messe tradition, it has a way sweeping everything tangential aside in order to hold up and extol the great gem of the Gospel, turning it this way and that, so that the light can shine through its many facets. We don't do it often, but each time we DO, I'm left thinking we should sing that liturgy more often.